Plant Tax Field Trip 3: Wildwood Park

Monilophytes

Grape Ferns

Whisk Ferns

Horsetails

Ferns

Equisetaceae

Horsetail family

Equisetum arvense

Field Horsetail

Native to northern hemisphere

Grows in floodplains, swamps, and marshes with calcareous rock

Dimorphic, with green, branching sterile fronds and tan, unbranched fertile fronds with terminal strobili

Monocots

Angiosperms with one seed leaf

Araceae

The Arum family

Arisaema triphyllum

Common Jack-in-the-Pulpit

Native to North America

Grows in mesic forests, floodplains, and hummocks

Plant has a single 3-lobed leaf and a single inflorescence

Spadix surrounded by a hooded, green-and-purple striped spathe

Cochicaceae

Meadow Saffron family

Uvularia grandiflora

Large-flowered Bellwort

Native to eastern North America

Grows in forest coves with rich soil

Branching upper stems have perfoliate leaves and pendulous flowers

Indicator of a healthy forest understory

Deer favorite to eat

Liliaceae

Lily family

Erythronium americanum

Yellow Trout Lily

Native to eastern North America

Grows in floodplain forests and mesic forest slopes

Mottled leaves with a single, nodding flower with six yellow tepals

May take 4-8 years to mature

Dicots

Angiosperms with two seed leaves

Aristolochiaceae

Birthwort family

Asarum canadense

Canada Wild Ginger

Native to eastern North America

Grows in rich mountain forests

Pubescent, heart-shaped leaves and maroon, tube-shaped flowers at ground level

Rhizome tastes like ginger and was traditionally used as flavoring, but may be carcinogenic

Berberidaceae

Barberry Family

Caulophyllum thalictroides

Blue Cohosh

Native to eastern North America

Grows in rich forest coves with calcareous rock

Compound, 3-lobed leaves and yellow flowers that ripen into blue berries

Traditionally used by midwives, but can be poisonous

Podophyllum peltatum

Mayapple

Native to eastern North America

Grows in mesic mountain forests especially in disturbed habitats

Rhizomatic colonies of peltate leaves

Only mature, forked stems produce yellow fruits, but the rest of the plant is highly poisonous

Caryophyllaceae

Pink family

Stellaria pubera

Star Chickweed

Native to eastern North America

Grows in mesic to dry forests

Flowers have five deeply notched petals, red anthers

Stems have two lines of hairs

Cornaceae

Dogwood family

Cornus florida

Flowering Dogwood

Native to eastern North America

Grows in the understory of upland forests

Small trees with opposite leaves

Many tiny flowers subtended by four white, pink, yellow, or red bracts

Virginia state tree

Fabaceae

Legume family

Cercis canadensis

Eastern Redbud

Native to eastern North America

Grows in mesic forests, woodlands, and roadsides

Alternate, heart-shaped leaves

Pink, edible flowers are cauliflorous, growing from the tree’s branches

Produces pink, edible legumes

Fumariaceae

Fumitory family

Dicentra cucullaria

Dutchman’s Breeches

Native to eastern North America

Grows in mesic mountain coves with rich soils

Creeping rhizomes sprout deeply lobed leaves

Racemes of zygomorphic flowers with white, inflated sepal spurs and yellow petals

Geraniaceae

Geranium family

Geranium maculatum

Wild Geranium

Native to eastern North America

Grows in forests

Pink, 5-petaled, perfect flowers with 10 stamens

Long beak-shaped capsules pop open if disturbed when ripe

Montiaceae

Montia family

Claytonia virginica

Virginia Spring Beauty

Native to eastern North America

Grows in old fields and forests with base-rich soils

Narrow, grasslike leaves and flowers with 5 white, pink-striped petals

Edible corms have chestnut-like flavor

On the cover of the Flora of Virginia

Ranunculaceae

Buttercup family

Dephinium tricorne

Dwarf Larkspur

Native to central and eastern North America

Grows in rich mountain forest coves with calcareous rock

Palmately lobed leaves and racemes of flowers with purple to white sepals and tiny petals

Long nectar spur attracts hummingbirds and long-tongued bees

Thalictrum dioicum

Early Meadow-rue

Native to central and eastern North America

Grows in rocky outcrops and forest coves with calcareous rock

Dioecious: male flowers have purple or white sepals and long, dangling stamens while females have green sepals and curved pistils

Wind-pollinated